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He's throwing around 97 out of the pen and he still has a mediocre K rate. How is that K rate going to be when he is throwing 93-95? I know some people argue that he pitches to contact, which if he does that's fine, but we don't have a good defense. He would likely be exposed his 2nd or 3rd time through a lineup.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This would be a bad move. Johnson belongs in the pen. Closer or set up man he is more valuable than an average starter. Personally, I don't think he would even be average.

MattP and I talked a lot about this on another forum.JJ does so well as a RP simply because his velocity is better during short bursts (usually the same with every pitcher). He can be 95+ during his 1-2 innings he pitches, and can place a lot more movement on the ball. This is all compared to 5+ innings where he has to slow his velocity for duration. He simply was an average starter at best in the minors, and I see no need to move him into the pen. I would be totally against it.

Yeah he wasnt really cutting it as a starter, so he became a darn good reliever. Dont see how any one could have much faith that after 4 or so years as a reliever he would all of a sudden be a good starter. Dont fix it if it aint broken. There's already enough broken that needs fixing

DougDE wrote:Yeah he wasnt really cutting it as a starter, so he became a darn good reliever. Dont see how any one could have much faith that after 4 or so years as a reliever he would all of a sudden be a good starter. Dont fix it if it aint broken. There's already enough broken that needs fixing

Couldn't agree more. Too much to focus on to allow this to happen. It would be like moving Wieters to OF.

While I don't necessarily see why it'd be true that Johnson would now become a good starter, I have to say it seems odd to see so many people express confusion over a team moving a struggling young starter to the bullpen, then looking to move him back to the rotation after he experiences a few years of success in the bullpen. Isn't that a pretty common story on a year-to-year basis in baseball, as well as an historically proven system within this very franchise?

A_K wrote:While I don't necessarily see why it'd be true that Johnson would now become a good starter, I have to say it seems odd to see so many people express confusion over a team moving a struggling young starter to the bullpen, then looking to move him back to the rotation after he experiences a few years of success in the bullpen. Isn't that a pretty common story on a year-to-year basis in baseball, as well as an historically proven system within this very franchise?

Who has spent 4 years in the bullpen (their entire major league career minus a start or two), then come back to be a reliable major league starter? Dont think its happened much, certainly dont think it's a "proven system". Didnt research it though

"The Oriole Way" didn't include pitchers proving their worth in the major league bullpen before earning the opportunity to crack the starting lineup? Again, not saying that Johnson would succeed as a starter-- I don't see any indication that he would-- but it does seem odd to me that people are so perplexed that a team would transition a reliever to the rotation if they believe he would be successful there.